Pacha Collective

 

7/23/26 Pacha Collective

I’d been marching through a long list of what I call death management tasks. None were painful, difficult or surprising; all were tedious, time-consuming and sometimes required visits to government offices (Social Security required me to appear in person with our original marriage license). Even processing the death certificate – that most official, undeniable declaration that the love of my life is gone – felt abstract and completely detached from the man I said good-bye to.

Methodically checking off my list the way I used to manage projects at work, I finished in eight days. (Well, two documents still need to be notarized during a brief meeting with our attorney, but my part is done.) I celebrated the way I used to celebrate each task or milestone during my massive downsizing project: A pastry and a sketch, of course!

When I’ve poked my nose into the Green Lake neighborhood’s Pacha Collective on other occasions, the tables were always full. On this comfortable day following our heatwave, I guess people wanted to be outdoors; the café had several open tables. Unfortunately, the one I got wasn’t at a very good angle to sketch the café’s centerpiece: A full-size VW bus, complete with seating and tables inside! I wanted to show more context so that it was clear that the bus was inside the café. I’ll look forward to doing that next time (and someday, I’d like to dine inside the bus, too).

Ironically, the coffee cake I chose came from Macrina Bakery,
where I have given up trying to get a table!

What I did have a good view of were a couple of patrons on the café’s far side. The man in back chose to stand while he worked at his laptop, giving me an unusual composition.

A Green Oasis at Kruckeberg Garden

7/24/26 Kruckeberg Botanic Garden

 

A dark-green, shady oasis, Kruckeberg Botanic Garden in Shoreline would be ideal on a hot day – the garden felt like it was at least 10 degrees cooler than on the street. As the temps were only in the high-60s and low-70s last Friday with USk Seattle, I was actually a little chilly, thanks to the shade of all those old-growth trees. Still, it was serene and comforting to be within the lush, forest-like atmosphere.

Serene, that is, until I started looking around for something to sketch: All that green is formidable! While I enjoy the challenge of sketching layers of foliage (I even recently boldly stated that I’m no longer intimidated by it), Kruckeberg Garden is whole next level of layers of foliage! One challenge was looking for pockets of light to contrast all the dark green. While my first sketch (above) was that attempt, I don’t really care for the composition I ended up with to get that light.

It took me quite a while to find a scene for my second sketch. I kept looking for a single tree to anchor the composition, but many grew close together or just didn’t catch my eye. I finally spotted Mark sketching next to an enormous tree with an interesting shape; he gave the tree scale, which I always think is important in a composition.

Process notes: To avoid being cowed by all that green, I channeled my inner Orla Stevens and Roy, who both encourage simply embracing the joy of mark-making. That was enormous fun!

In the first sketch, I also tried to think like a painter: Before doing anything else, I spread water all over the paper, then applied a yellow Caran d’Ache Neocolor II crayon wet-in-wet with the “licking” method. That served as a warm underpainting for everything else. I like the effect, and it easily eliminated spots of bright paper white that wouldn’t have felt right in such a dark yet warmly lit environment.

The newly constructed walkway/ramp makes the garden's lower level much more accessible.

Seattle-Style Heatwave

 

7/23/26 Green Lake

It was an old-school, Seattle-style heatwave: A few days in the high 80s and 90s that always cooled to comfortable temps overnight. Still, it was hot enough that I had to get out early for my walks, or the afternoons would be brutal. By the fourth day, we were down to the comfy mid-70s with some clouds – ahhh!

Breezy and shaded with trees, Green Lake Park is always a summer oasis – and more so right after a heatwave.  

The Final World Cup Match

 

7/19/26 World Cup viewing party at Phinney Station, Phinney neighborhood

As we were getting ready to leave Cocoa Legato, Ching said she wanted to see how the final World Cup match was going. I tagged along to Phinney Station just a few blocks away. The crowd was standing-room-only at the venue’s huge patio, where everyone seemed riveted to the two screens. We stayed in the overflow area on the sidewalk, where we still had a good view of Spain and Argentina facing off.

As usual at any sports event, I didn’t know what was going on, but I enjoyed sketching the spectators on a lovely Sunday afternoon.

Natalie at Open Mic

 

7/19/26 Tracy and Natalie perform "I Do Not Like Yoga Anymore" at Cocoa Legato

Last spring when Natalie saw how much fun the open mic sessions are at Cocoa Legato, she was inspired to get her act together – literally. Ching, Kim and I came out to cheer her on, of course. She and her friend and yoga instructor Tracy performed Natalie’s original song, “I Do Not Like Yoga Anymore,” which included Natalie’s dramatization and Tracy on ukelele. Brava!

Several other vocalists also performed that afternoon, including Pierce and Jonah, who were familiar to us from previous visits to Cocoa Legato. Regardless of their skill level or style, I admire anyone who will stand up during open mic to perform for a live audience. Like drawing, it’s not about “talent” but about doing and practicing, and I appreciate their courage.

Yes, I had the chocolate grilled cheese sandwich again!

A Return to Obon

 

7/18/26 Obon festival, Seattle Betsuin Temple, Central District

As a child and teen, I looked forward to Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple’s annual Obon festival every summer. For my friends and me back then, it was mostly about socializing, dancing (traditional folk dances) and eating street food, but the festival itself has religious roots related to honoring deceased loved ones (I gave my shorthand of the roots in this 2016 post). This year, of course, I had more reason to go than usual and especially to attend the formal service that precedes the festivities. (Aside: As I listened to the minister talk about Obon, I realized it’s quite similar to El Día de los Muertos in intention and spirit.)

When I was young, the lead dance instructor barked out strict rules of dress and conduct during rehearsals: No blue jeans! No short pants! No tennis shoes! No chewing gum! We were to wear only traditional kimono or happi festival jackets over dark pants. Now participants wear anything they want, and I enjoy seeing the mix of styles.

I continued attending Obon annually as an adult, and Greg had loved participating as much as I did. He enjoyed and appreciated the small-community feeling, and of course, we both enjoyed the food and socializing. For a long period, though, we kept missing Obon because it always seemed to coincide with the many Urban Sketchers Symposiums we attended or other travel. Then COVID happened, followed by Greg’s worsening dementia, and I realized last Saturday that I hadn’t been to Obon since 2017. No wonder I had missed it so.

Taiko drumming, usually performed by Seattle Betsuin's own taiko group, is a highlight of the festivities.

Attending with a friend since elementary school, we reminisced about simultaneously dreading/hoping to see certain boys (middle school) and how the kori (shave ice or snow cones in other parlance) we just paid $7 for used to cost 75 cents. We caught up with another friend we went to middle school with and had danced with at many Obon. She introduced us to her grandkids in tow. Much reminiscing commenced.

Obon is where we count time by decades as much as by years.

Phinney Market Life

 

7/17/26 Phinney Farmers Market

In keeping with my vow, I’m trying to get back into visiting more neighborhood farmers markets, and Phinney has always been one of my favorites. Always fun and relaxing to sketch, the scheduled musicians and buskers are a mainstay. I have a new personal challenge this year: Try to capture as many dogs as I can!

Distracted by all the smells, noises and movements, dogs are extra challenging to sketch in the market environment, but that’s what makes them fun to go after – sometimes literally. The dog on the lower part of the first page was walking around the market with its human, so I followed behind until I could get its whole figure – though not very well (the seated pup was much easier)! But there’s still plenty of summer left to practice.